A contemporary approach to leadership development
that uniquely employs project teams so that major
organizational goals are accomplished while simultaneously
developing your talent pool.
An Action-Learning Team is a contemporary solution
to a present-day problem. Organizations need to grow
leaders fast to fill a growing number of leadership
vacancies. But they don’t have much time for
traditional methods that take people off the job
for days or weeks. Action-Learning Teams fill a unique
set of needs.
An Action-Learning Team is a small group of leadership
students from the same organization (i.e., emerging
leaders, new managers, or experienced executives)
who work on real business problems. What differentiates
this type of group from the usual project or process-improvement
team is the fact that participants are actively learning
from the assignment. In a well-designed Action-Learning
Team, the group is chartered to achieve certain business
goals, and team members are charged with practicing
leadership skills that are uniquely relevant to their
individual development plans.
To be successful, Action-Learning Teams need the following:
• Individual assessment of skill gaps targeted for improvement
• A reasonable list of real organizational problems
• An opportunity for team members to self-select their assignments
• Team charters, team training and project management tools
• Management support of the project and the teams
• A system of sponsors and coaches to facilitate on-the-job learning
• Accountability for results and recognition when projects are complete
Turning Points
